Towards A Healthy Economy + Marketing World

Are you really using the power of modern technology to make your business more profitable? Sure, you are using e-mail, you have a web page and you may be reaching your clients and customers with an electronic mailing list, but are you using web and video conferencing to hold virtual meetings with your employees, customers and clients in different geographical locations? Here are six ways how web and video conferencing can help you to increase the efficiency of your enterprise.

First however, it is important to know what web and video conferencing are. Web conferencing is when two or more people “meet” over the Internet to share information and ideas. Web conferencing systems typically provide tools that allow participants to perform “Online Collaboration” by working together over the Internet, sharing applications and documents.

Some web conferencing tools include the ability to share one’s desktop, allowing participants to “present” information, be it a PowerPoint Presentation, an Excel Spreadsheet or a Word Document with other attendees of their web conference. It is even possible for participants to remotely control other participants’ computers. Video conferencing allows participants to see and hear each other using head sets and web cams, and is usually included in good web conferencing system.

Now take a look at how some companies are already getting the benefits of this cutting- edge technology:

1. They are holding “web meetings” with prospects, customers, clients and fellow workers without having to incur any travel expenses. These face-to-face meetings are conducted using the click of a keyboard and the movement of a mouse.

2. They are demonstrating and supporting products and services without having to send people to far-flung destinations. Web conferencing can enable your staff to get behind the desk of your client and do the trouble shooting or give the training that you may be currently doing, without having to send your support staff out on expensive personal visits.

3. They are holding virtual training and classrooms for students, employees and clients . Schools and Universities in particular are using web and video conferencing to create “virtual classrooms,” while companies are training their employees at several locations using combined web and video conferences.

4. They are giving online web and video support to clients . Live chat boxes are great, I use them all the time, but the support you can offer when your technician can take over a client’s computer and really fix the problem is much more powerful. And, when your client can see who is helping him or her, it really adds a special “warm and fuzzy” touch.

5. They are saving thousands of dollars in travel costs by cutting down on commuting and travel and time spent out of the office . “As a result of this technology, our need to travel between offices has been greatly reduced, which has already saved us thousands of dollars,” says Saul Rothschild, Information Systems Manager at Steel Encounters, Inc.”

In times of rising fuel costs, web and video conferencing can really make a huge difference to a company’s bottom line. Companies using web conferencing are not only able to cut down on their travel expenses, but their sales representatives, trainers and support staff also get to spend more productive time in the office and do not lose valuable hours sitting in a car or on a plane.

6. They are thinking “outside the box” and devising new ways to work now that they are free of geographical limitations . The companies and organizations that have adopted web and video conferencing technology are marketing products and services, conducting training and giving support as if all their employees, prospects and clients were working together under one roof. Company meetings, sales meetings, employee training, and product launches are now being conducted with a new 21 st Century flair.

So, consider your own business or activity and think of how web and video conferencing could help you to work more effectively with all your constituents without having to leave your office.

Dan Richmond is CEO and Co-founder of MegaMeeting.com. His company provides web conferencing and video conferencing services for individuals, businesses and educational institutions. Dan can be reached either via the phone at (818) 783-4311 or via e-mail at DanR@MegaMeeting.com. Visit their website www.MegaMeeting.com for more information.

It is Sunday evening and you are preparing again to go on a business trip. Monday morning the alarm goes off at 4:00 am, you drag your body and your briefcase to your car, drive to the airport, wait in a long line, get on a plane, get off a plane, and find your way to your client’s office. When you finally get home Monday night, you have spent more time traveling than meeting and you have dozens of emails and several important phone calls to return.

According to leading web conferencing service providers, the typical sales cycle can be cut two to three weeks with web conferencing. Providing a virtual conference room environment, web conferencing eliminates the need to travel, linking geographically disperse workgroups and telecommuters. The return on investment for web conferencing can be measured not only in dollars and cents, but also in personnel efficiency, knowledge distribution and increased sales opportunities.

The ability to virtually link workgroups and project teams enables real-time collaboration, a task that once required lengthy email threads or face-to-face meetings.

Web conferencing enables businesses to:

• Reduce operating costs

• Minimize unnecessary travel

• Close sales and negotiate contracts faster

• Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of communication

• Deliver clear, concise and consistent training

• Encourage real-time collaboration between distant and local co-workers

• Engage in greater levels of communication with clients and business partners

Since its inception, web conferencing usage has expanded to a number of business applications such as daily sales and marketing efforts, interaction with co-workers and customers, corporate presentations and training initiatives. Financial corporations use web conferencing for internal meetings, customer briefings, employee training, client consultations and investment workshops. Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies use Web conferencing for product promotion and marketing, sales presentations and demonstrations, and product training and development. Educational institutions use web conferencing for project teams and student workshops. And, government agencies rely on web conferencing for training and inter-agency communication.

Most organizations use outsourced web conferencing. Why? Because of the quickly changing technology, businesses opt not to invest in what could soon be obsolete. In addition, on a day-to-day basis, it is more cost effective to have web conferencing outsourced. Additional reasons include:

• Leading edge functionality provides greater levels of security, moderator control, and participant options.

• Your people can now focus on your core business, not support systems.

• The external company makes the investment in new features so that your fixed costs are reduced and your overall expenditures are lowered.

• With no capital expense, new technology can be implemented with minimal impact to the bottom line.

When beginning the search for a web conferencing solution, start with setting your objectives and determining the features you require. Here are a few basic questions that should be answered:

• How many participants do you anticipate attending your online meetings or events?

• Will the number of participants remain consistent from meeting to meeting or will the number change?

• How many meetings will be conducted each week, month, quarter? Will usage fluctuate depending on the time of the year?

• What type of content will be presented (Power Point slides, software applications, web-based applications, documents, or spreadsheets)?

• What degree of interactivity do you require (Q&A, polling/voting, application sharing, text chatting, live video, file sharing, etc.)?

• Do you want your own software or a hosted solution?

• How much technical support or event management support do you require?

• What is your monthly budget?

• Are there any special security requirements?

Once you have determined your requirements, screen a number of vendors. Visit their web site, review live demos, and seek client testimonials. Here are few suggestions for choosing a vendor:

Select a pricing model. Determine whether you want to pay-per-use (you pay only for the time you and your attendees spend in web conferences) or pay-per-seat (you pay a flat monthly fee for a certain number of “seats”). Pay-per-use pricing is the better conservative choice for most companies learning to how to use web conferencing for their business. You avoid set up charges and you don’t have to monitor the number of concurrent users in order to avoid overage charges. You can always start with a pay-per-use plan and switch to a pay-per-seat plan once there is a clear, long-term financial advantage.

Get the features you need. Some web conferencing solutions only support online presentations while others offer full-featured packages that include polling, chatting, application-sharing, white boarding and group web surfing. Make sure that the product meets your needs.

Check into customer support levels. Is training and ongoing support available? What hours? Is there an extra fee? Is there a telephone number available so that you can contact a support person or is only email support offered? What are their support hours? Call each vendor’s customer service number and see if you get a live person vs. a menu or voice mail. You don’t want to be in a situation where an attendee has technical problems joining a critical meeting and not be able to contact a live person immediately.

Consider security requirements. Depending on the audience and the information being sharing, security may be a concern. Most solutions are secure enough and do not store meeting data any place except on the presenter’s PC. Participants only see a graphical representation of the data through a standard web browser. Some services provide pass code authorization, basic encryption, and the ability to lock and unlock the meeting.

So, the next time Sunday night comes around and you are faced with another week of travel, email trails, difficulty in scheduling training and long lead times in closing sales and negotiating contracts, do yourself a favor and look into web conferencing for your business.

About The Author

Denise Bridgens has more than 20 years experience in product marketing and product management for communications and is the founder of Argo Navis IT. Argo Navis IT is a value added reseller of Premiere Conferencing services and is their exclusive Minority Women Business Enterprise partner. Premiere Conferencing has consistently led the industry in developing the most advanced conferencing solutions, fulfilling today’s business-critical communications needs and delivering the highest levels of security and reliability. Argo Navis IT is headquartered in Morristown, NJ and is opening an office in a HUB zone shortly. The company contributes 10% of profits annually to battered women’s shelters. To learn more about Argo Navis IT, visit their web site at www.argonavisit.com

With the advent of Phone Conferencing, taking your business global is quite an easy task. With the installation of powerful Phone Conferencing Equipment you can establish contact with anyone in any part of the world. With Phone Conferencing equipment it is possible for many people to speak and listen on a single phone handset.

The Phone Conferencing Equipment consists of microphones and speakers that transfer voice signals, like a speakerphone. They are made in such a manner that many people sitting in one room can hear and speak with ease. This equipment is portable, so that it can be placed at the center of a room, connected with a regular phone cord. New and advanced Phone Conferencing Equipment is generally equipped with a few additional microphones for better sound quality. This technology has actually set new standards for communication, since the barriers of distance have ceased to exist. In fact, by seeing its sudden popularity and enhanced use, many companies have jumped into the arena for providing good and powerful equipment.

There are primarily three things that should be kept in mind while choosing any Phone Conferencing Equipment. These are business size, compatibility and sound quality. If you’re a big corporate house then you must go in for Phone Conferencing Equipment that has a remote control or wireless microphones. This gives you the chance of walking while you’re talking. Compatibility comes next on the priority list. It’s just not any other plug and play equipment that you can take for granted. It has been noticed that many companies install digital phone system are not often compatible with conferencing equipment. So keep an account of what system is used by your company, and whether it’s an analog or digital system. This would form the basis of choosing your phone equipment.

Another important factor is sound quality. Always ensure that your system offers clear sound quality. Look around, weigh the options available in the market and test the equipment before buying, as the wrong Phone Conferencing Equipment can hamper your conversation and conferencing.

Normal Phone Conferencing Equipment for a small business or room usually ranges from $400 to $600. But if you’re a big corporate house then the equipment is going to range anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000. However, do not mind shelling out those extra bucks, as this solution is sure to land you more business.

Phone Conferencing provides detailed information about phone conferencing, audio conferencing, free phone conferencing, phone conference services and more. Phone Conferencing is the sister site of Telephone Headsets.

No new technology develops smoothly, and video conferencing had more than its
share of bumps along the way before becoming the widely used communications
staple it is today. The history of video conferencing in its earliest form goes
back to the 1960’s, when AT&T introduced the Picturephone at the World’s Fair in
New York. While viewed as a fascinating curiosity, it never became popular and
was too expensive to be practical for most consumers when it was offered for
$160 a month in 1970.

Commercial use of real video conferencing was first realized with Ericsson’s
demonstration of the first trans-Atlantic LME video telephone call. Soon other
companies began refining video conferencing technologies, including such
advancements as network video protocol (NVP) in 1976 and packet video protocol (PVP)
in 1981. None of these were put into commercial use, however, and stayed in the
laboratory or private company use.

In 1976, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone established video conferencing (VC)
between Tokyo and Osaka for company use. IBM Japan followed suit in 1982 by
establishing VC running at 48000bps to link up with already established internal
IBM video conferencing links in the United States so that they could have weekly
meetings.

The 1980’s introduce commercial video conferencing

In 1982, Compression Labs introduces their VC system to the world for
$250,000 with lines for $1,000 an hour. The system was huge and used enormous
resources capable of tripping 15 amp circuit breakers. It was, however, the only
working VC system available until PictureTel’s VC hit the market in 1986 with
their substantially cheaper $80,000 system with $100 per hour lines.

In the time in between these two commercially offered systems, there were
other video conferencing systems developed that were never offered commercially.
The history of video conferencing isn’t complete without mentioning these
systems that were either prototypes or systems developed specifically for
in-house use by a variety of corporations or organizations, including the
military. Around 1984, Datapoint was using the Datapoint MINX system on their
Texas campus, and had provided the system to the military.

In the late 1980’s, Mitsubishi began selling a still-picture phone that was
basically a flop in the market place. They dropped the line two years after
introducing it. In 1991, the first PC based video conferencing system was
introduced by IBM – PicTel. It was a black and white system using what was at
the time an incredibly inexpensive $30 per hour for the lines, while the system
itself was $20,000. In June of the same year, DARTnet had successfully connected
a transcontinental IP network of over a dozen research sites in the United
States and Great Britain using T1 trunks. Today, DARTnet has evolved into the
CAIRN system, which connects dozens of institutions.

CU-SeeMe revolutionizes video conferencing

One of the most famous systems in the history of video conferencing was the
CU-SeeMe developed for the MacIntosh system in 1992. Although the first version
didn’t have audio, it was the best video system developed to that point. By
1993, the MAC program had multipoint capability, and in 1994, CU-SeeMe MAC was
true video conferencing with audio. Recognizing the limitations of MAC
compatibility in a Windows world, developers worked diligently to roll out the
April 1994 CU-SeeME for Windows (no audio), followed closely by the audio
version, CU-SeeMe v0.66b1 for Windows in August of 1995.

In 1992, AT&T rolled out their own $1,500 video phone for the home market. It
was a borderline success. That same year, the world’s first MBone audio/video
broadcast took place and in July INRIA’s video conferencing system was
introduced. This is the year that saw the first real explosion in video
conferencing for businesses around the globe and eventually led to the standards
developed by the ITU.

International Telecommunications Union develops coding standards

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) began developing standards
for video conferencing coding in 1996, when they established Standard H.263 to
reduce bandwidth for transmission for low bit rate communication. Other
standards were developed, including H.323 for packet-based multi-media
communications. These are a variety of other telecommunications standards were
revised and updated in 1998. In 1999, Standard MPEG-4 was developed by the
Moving Picture Experts Group as an ISO standard for multimedia content.

In 1993, VocalChat Novell IPX networks introduced their video conferencing
system, but it was doomed from the start and didn’t last. Microsoft finally came
on board the video conferencing bandwagon with NetMeeting, a descendent of
PictureTel’s Liveshare Plus, in August of 1996 (although it didn’t have video in
this release). By December of the same year, Microsoft NetMeeting v2.0b2 with
video had been released. That same month, VocalTec’s Internet Phone v4.0 for
Windows was introduced.

VRVS links global research centers

The Virtual Room Videoconferencing System (VRVS) project at Caltech-CERN
kicked off in July of 1997. They developed the VRVS specifically to provide
video conferencing to researchers on the Large Hadron Collider Project and
scientists in the High Energy and Nuclear Physics Community in the U.S. and
Europe. It has been so successful that seed money has been allotted for phase
two, CalREN-2, to improve and expand on the already in-place VRVS system in
order to expand it to encompass geneticists, doctors, and a host of other
scientists in the video conferencing network around the world.

Cornell University’s development team released CU-SeeMe v1.0 in 1998. This
color video version was compatible with both Windows and MacIntosh, and huge
step forward in pc video conferencing. By May of that year, the team has moved
on to other projects.

In February of 1999, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) was launched by MMUSIC.
The platform showed some advantages over H.323 that user appreciated and soon
made it almost as popular. 1999 was a very busy year, with NetMeeting v3.0b
coming out, followed quickly by version three of the ITU standard H.323. Then
came the release of iVisit v2.3b5 for both Windows and Mac, followed by Media
Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), version 1. In December, Microsoft released a
service pack for NetMeeting v3.01 (4.4.3388) and an ISO standard MPEG-4 version
two was released. Finally, PSInet was the first company to launch H.323
automated multipoint services. Like we said, 1999 was a very busy year.

SIP entered version 1.30 in November of 2000, the same year that standard
H.323 hit version 4, and Samsung released their MPEG-4 streaming 3G video cell
phone, the first of its kind. It was a hit, particularly in Japan. Rather
predictably, Microsoft NetMeeting had to release another service pack for
version 3.01.

In 2001, Windows XP messenger announced that it would now support Session
Initiation Protocol. This was the same year the world’s first transatlantic tele-surgery
took place utilizing video conferencing. In this instance, video conferencing
was instrumental in allowing a surgeon in the U.S. to use a robot overseas to
perform gall bladder surgery on a patient. It was one of the most compelling
non-business uses in the history of video conferencing, and brought the
technology to the attention of the medical profession and the general public.

In October of 2001, television reporters began using a portable satellite and
a videophone to broadcast live from Afghanistan during the war. It was the first
use of video conferencing technology to converse live with video with someone in
a war zone, again bringing video conferencing to the forefront of people’s
imaginations.

Founded in December of 2001, the Joint Video Team completed basic research
leading to ITU-T H.264 by December of 2002. This protocol standardized video
compression technology for both MPEG-4 and ITU-T over a broad range of
application areas, making it more versatile than its predecessors. In March of
2003, the new technology was ready for launch to the industry.

New uses for video conferencing technologies

2003 also saw the rise in use of video conferencing for off-campus
classrooms. Interactive classrooms became more popular as the quality of
streaming video increased and the delay decreased. Companies such as VBrick
provided various MPEG-4 systems to colleges across the country. Desktop video
conferencing is also on the rise and gaining popularity.

Companies newer to the market are now refining the details of performance in
addition to the nuts and bolts of transmission. In April of 2004, Applied Global
Technologies developed a voice-activated camera for use in video conferencing
that tracks the voice of various speakers in order to focus on whoever is
speaking during a conference call. In March 2004, Linux announced the release of
GnomeMeeting, an H.323 compliant, free video conferencing platform that is
NetMeeting compatible.

With the constant advances in video conferencing systems, it seems obvious
that the technology will continue to evolve and become an integral part of
business and personal life. As new advances are made and systems become more
reasonably priced, keep in mind that choices are still determined by network
type, system requirements and what your particular conferencing needs are.

This article on the “The History of Video Conferencing” reprinted with
permission.
Copyright © 2004 Evaluseek Publishing.

About the Author
Lori Wilkerson is a full-time freelance writer who loves her job because it
gives her the opportunity to learn more about the world every day. Right now,
she knows a little bit about almost everything, and a lot about
video conferencing,
renting a

video conference facility, and which

videoconferencing conferencing solution is best for small groups. She has two dogs who are spoiled
and one teenager who is not. She does her video conferencing in pink bunny
slippers.

The internet has made possible several marvelous technologies that enhance our lives in many ways. One very useful technology that has been gaining ground recently is video conferencing over the internet. Let’s examine what it is and how it can be used effectively.

Video conferencing essentially allows a group of individuals anywhere around the world who have internet access to be able to hold a simultaneous meeting together without having to physically meet one another in any specific location. It’s a method of combining simultaneous video and audio so that a meaningful discussion or meeting can take place in real-time over the internet.

So what do you need in order to have a video conference? Successful video conferencing components include video cameras, microphones, video conferencing software, and the computer equipment necessary to connect to the internet and process the sound and video data.

In order to accomplish the transmission of the video and audio portions of the meeting, the video conferencing software that is used must take the input from the microphones and cameras, convert them into digital signals that are encoded and then transmitted across the internet where they are received and decoded back into images and sound on the other end.

So who can make use of this advanced communications technology? Well, almost anyone who needs to meet with a group of other people who may not be local to them. Quite a few businesses are adopting this technology because it allows them to be able to communicate with personnel and offices no matter where they are located around the world, and share important ideas and planning strategies. And the biggest advantage for business is that they don’t have to pay for the travel costs necessary to bring all of those people together at one time, and they don’t lose productivity spent during the travel time to get there. So for many businesses it’s a very positive solution for office related communications.

Schools are also starting to use video conferencing quite a bit as distance learning over the internet continues to rise in popularity. It enables them to be able to teach subjects, and hold classes over the internet for their students without them having to be physically present.

There are many other ways to make good use of internet video conferencing, as they can be beneficial for almost any group of people that needs to meet and discuss important topics in real-time without physically gathering together in the same place.

Hopefully the information presented in this article will help you understand more about how video conferencing actually works, and who can best make use of this marvelous technology.

Steadman Issenburg writes on many consumer related topics including communication. You can find online teleconferencing and online web conferencing and more by visiting our communication website.

http://www.WhatIWantPodcasting.com

Taxcasting is the commercial application of podcasting for
accounting related institutions. Taxcasting is the distribution
and publishing of audio and video feeds, that offer accounting
information delivered over the Internet, for on demand
listening.

This is a new step in the evolution of on-demand tax information
delivery, making it accessible, informative, useful and
appealing. This mix presents the accounting industry with a very
unique opportunity to reach its community through this new
medium. Those individuals, who are already seeking accounting
information actively, will use RSS subscription technology built
into each podcast feed, to receive information immediately as it
is updated by the medical institution. With one click of a
button, a user can subscribe to a feed that may be interesting,
and any related information that is ever updated to that feed
will be automatically processed to their personal aggregator. An
aggregator is able to subscribe to a feed, check for new content
at user-determined intervals, and retrieve the content.

To take this process one step further, podcasting publishes each
feed with the capability to be transferred to any portable audio
or video device. So with the growth of the ipod, media cell
phones and all the other portable media devices, you have the
ability to grab Taxcasts and place them on your portable player
for listening or viewing. Most users attach their portable
players to their computers daily or weekly, and once the player
is attached they automatically receive the new taxcast updates.

The flexibility of this medium is what will drive the growth of
Taxcasting tremendously over the next few years. Currently the
most useful application for accounting institutions worldwide is
to compliment already existing tax mailings. Most firms have
numerous updates which are delivered regularly via snail mail or
email in text format. When you have a large client base made up
of thousands of clients, it is important to come up with an
interesting approach that will grab the viewer’s attention and
get across the message you have sent clearly. Tax casting gives
you the opportunity to send audio or video feeds via the
internet, which can be viewed on portable devices on your
computer. You can open and subscribe to most of these feeds with
one-click. The popularity of portable on demand information will
grow even greater as wireless internet services continue to
flourish across the country. These portable devices will no
longer have to be connected to the internet; they will receive
information wirelessly as it is updated. In addition, as cell
phones and portable devices continue to merge together, the
market grows larger.

Accounting firms have vital information that they must deliver
to their clients, at least bi-yearly if not more often. This
medium will present the accounting industry with an opportunity
to have a great impact on their reach to clients, through an
appealing delivery of their message.

For institutions that have thousands of employees, the
distribution of company information is very important, and once
again this offers each institution a method of on-demand
delivery which is convenient to all. Taxcasting can also be used
as a direct line of communication, by recording video-casts of
company messages from executives for company wide distribution.

There are numerous uses for taxcasting currently, and over the
next few years it will explode in popularity. It is beneficial
to institutions as well as the consumer, and it will be seen as
a great tool in any medical organizations’ operations.

http://www.WhatIWantPodcasting.com

Meetings and conferences will never be the same again! Gone are the days where meetings could only be conducted when everyone involved was present at a proposed venue, properly attired and mentally equipped to deal with the possibility of spending at least half the day in the meeting. Meetings and conferences have now become hassle-free, less mundane, less rigid and less time-consuming, thanks to the innovative method of audio conferencing.

Audio conferencing, also known as teleconferencing or tele-seminar, is a method of holding conferences and meetings using a telephone or computer as the medium of communication. With the help of an audio device attached to something common as the telephone, a meeting consisting of more than 5 people can be held anywhere and anytime.

The biggest advantage of audio conferencing is that it can take place no matter where you are, so long as you have access to the phone. There is no need to be dressed up in your office suit since you will be there without actually ‘being there.’ This is a great avenue, especially for bosses who are away for business trips and need to hold urgent meetings with their people; it also benefits those who work from home.

Audio conferencing is not only for business purposes, even though this is its most common use. This method of communication can also used for entertainment; for example, to chat with friends or family who are scattered in different parts of the country or even in different parts of the world!

The important thing to remember is that all participants should be aware of the time of the conference and the numbers which they are supposed to dial into. It would also be beneficial if the participants are well-informed of the topic of discussion in order to avoid confusion and prolonged meetings, since most audio conferences are meant to finish at a shorter time.

Audio Conferences provides detailed information on Audio Conferences, Audio Conference Calls, Audio Conference Companies, Audio Conference Services and more. Audio Conferences is affiliated with Online Audio Conferencing .